In my previous town, the Walmart was located about the same distance from my home as the closest mainstream grocery store, and since the route to get there contained far fewer traffic lights, I often drove to that part of town when I needed to stock up on my favorite cocoa powder and chocolate chips. (While writing my Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook, I almost single-handedly bought out their entire supply of both!)
The town’s Krispy Kreme sat on the other side of the Walmart parking lot, and if I finished my shopping trip in the evening, I occasionally stopped by before heading home. I tend to crave donuts at night, rather than in the morning (enduring the big sugar rush and crash all before lunchtime is no fun!), and that was the only donut shop in town open past 2 pm in the afternoon.
Although nearly everyone I knew raved about Krispy Kreme’s iconic classic glazed donut, especially if it came hot from the fryer, I always preferred cake donuts instead of yeast ones, so I typically ordered their chocolate or blueberry old fashioned-style options. They also offered donut holes in the same style and flavors, but I rarely bought those… With their small size, it was way too tempting to eat the whole bag’s worth all by myself!
One time, I stopped by with a friend, and he decided to order an entire dozen in a variety of flavors so we could sample as many as we wanted. In addition to our aforementioned favorites, we walked away with countless others: sour cream, cinnamon sugar, maple glazed, chocolate frosted, powdered sugar filled with lemon cream (he loved all things lemon!), and even an apple fritter.
After taking tiny bites of each, I decided that those chocolate and blueberry cake donuts were still my favorites, but their apple fritter came in a very close second. That tender dough paired with big juicy chunks of fruit and a sweet glaze covering it all… Yum!
When I recently drove past a different Krispy Kreme, I started thinking about that apple fritter all over again. It took all of my self-control to keep my foot on the gas pedal and not flip a U-turn at the next traffic light, so when I arrived back at home, I baked these Clean Apple Pie Scones to satisfy my cravings instead. With the same cozy flavors but no refined flour or sugar (or grease from frying!), these pastries are much healthier than those Krispy Kreme donuts—and they even have nearly 5g of protein too!
To make these healthier scones, you’ll start with whole wheat flour. That’s right, just regular ol’ whole wheat flour! This is the kind that I buy because it’s fairly inexpensive and ground more finely than other brands, so it gives your baked goods a more tender texture. (And if you prefer, I’ve included a gluten-free option in the Notes section under the recipe too!)
Whereas traditional scone recipes typically include a full stick of butter (or two) and plenty of heavy cream, these lighter ones are the exact opposite! You just need 2 tablespoons of butter. That’s it! It’s extremely important that you use very cold butter, straight from the refrigerator. Really cold butter won’t heat up until you put the scones into the extremely hot oven, and it will create little air pockets and a very tender crumb when it melts.
Note: This is why I recommend against using coconut oil, if at all possible, because coconut oil has a much lower melting point than butter and will quickly turn to liquid once you begin mixing it into the dough.
Because we’re skipping the extra butter and heavy cream today, the rest of the scones’ tender texture comes from one of my favorite ingredients in healthier baking: Greek yogurt! Greek yogurt provides the same moisture to the dough for a fraction of the calories, and it even gives your scones a protein boost too.
For that iconic pie flavor, you’ll use cinnamon and diced apples. It’s important to cut the apples to be very small, no larger than the size of chocolate chips, to ensure the scones bake evenly. I typically use red Fuji apples, but any firm red or green apple will work.
Just before popping the baking sheet in the oven, you’ll brush the tops and sides of the scones with milk. This seals in the moisture to keep the insides of the scones perfectly tender, and it also creates a hint of a crust on the outsides. I love that textural contrast!
Fresh fruit, cozy spices, dessert for breakfast… Does life get any better than this?? And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that I’ll see the notification from you! ?) I’d love to see your scones and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Clean Apple Pie Scones | | Print |
- 1 ½ cups (180g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 3 tbsp (45mL) pure maple syrup
- 3 tbsp + 2 tsp (55mL) nonfat milk, divided
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (94g) finely diced apple (about 1 small)
- Preheat the oven to 425°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or the back of a fork until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in the Greek yogurt, maple syrup, 3 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla. Fold in the diced apple.
- Using a spatula, shape the dough into a ¾” tall circle on the prepared baking sheet, and brush with the remaining milk. Slice the circle into 8 triangular segments with a sharp knife. Bake at 425°F for 16-19 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
For a gluten-free version, use the following blend: 1 cup (120g) millet flour, ¼ cup (30g) tapioca flour, ¼ cup (30g) brown rice flour, and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free flour blends will work as well, if they’re measured like this.
Honey or agave may be substituted in place of the pure maple syrup.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
In a pinch, coconut oil may be substituted for the butter, but the texture of the scones will be affected. Very cold butter is required to achieve their tender texture, and since coconut oil melts at a much lower temperature, the results will not be the same.
It’s important to dice the apple finely, no larger than the size of chocolate chips, to ensure that the scones bake evenly. I generally use Fuji apples, but any firm red or green apples will work.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Whole Wheat Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls
♥ Apple Pie Snickerdoodles
♥ Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Apple Pie Protein Overnight Oats
♥ Apple Pie Granola Bar Bites
♥ Apple Pie Protein Bars
♥ Slow Cooker Apple Pie Filling
♥ Clean Classic Apple Pie
I made these on Sunday when my future in laws came to visit. I had never made scones before but those were delicious and everybody loved them? Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Katja x
I’m so glad everyone loved the scones Katja! It means a lot to me that you’d pick one of my recipes as the first scone recipe you baked! 🙂
These look amazing! I am definitely going to be trying this recipe. Do you think it would be okay if I mixed it all up at night, refrigerated the mixture and then baked it in the morning?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Hannah! I haven’t tried that before, but I think it should work. The texture may be slightly different, but the flavors will remain the same! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear how that turns out!
Hi
I trying find healthier version plain scones.
It is possible leave apple out??
(I will also do apple one too)
Also I see some other recipe online use half whole wheat flour or all purpose flour with half oats flour.
It is possible split flour in half for whole wheat and other half for oats flour??
Thanks.
Yes, you can omit the apple! I also have a chocolate chip scone recipe here that doesn’t include cinnamon, if you’d prefer an even plainer version. 🙂 You may substitute half oat flour if you wish, but be very careful when measuring it. It’s generally more absorbent than whole wheat flour, so if too much is added, the scone dough will be very dry and won’t come together. I can’t wait to hear what you think of these Sammy!
Hi
Thanks replying. Fab I will try that out.
My pleasure Sammy! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the scones!
I absolutely love them!!! I ran out of vanilla extract & improvised, replacing it with unsweetened applesauce. I will makes these again.
I’m so glad you loved these scones! It means a lot to me that you want to make them again! 🙂
Hi There! I’m a gluten free vegan so i was wondering if i could use more plant milk instead of the greek yogurt? I can’t get vegan yogurt where i am 🙁 Thank You!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes Renae! 🙂 There are absolutely no vegan yogurts where you live? That’s such a bummer! Since this particular recipe is for apple scones, I’d recommend substituting applesauce instead. I can’t wait to hear what you think of these scones!
Thank you so much for replying.Yep,no vegan yogurt.My supermarkets suck.Can’t wait to try with the applesauce though 🙂 Now i just need to track down some millet flour… I’ll let you know how they turn out 🙂 Thank you again!
My pleasure Renae! I’m so excited to hear what you think of them! 🙂
Hi, this looks amazing. But i don’t have a maple syrop right now. Can I use somethibg instead? (not agawa syrop)
I’ve actually answered this question already in the Notes section of the recipe, underneath the Instructions! It can be easy to miss. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these scones Sophie!
Made these tonight. They were sooo good!
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that Alyssa! 🙂
I tried this recipe this afternoon for the tea party that my daughter wanted to throw for her grandma ?. I followed the recipe to the letter except I added about a tablespoon more maple syrup. I ended up having to cook it to the full-time, And the outside turned out crispy while the inside was Gummy. BUT the flavours were truly delicious! I loved The apples in it, the maple flavor, the nuttiness from the flour, etc. I’m just not sure why it did not turn out like a nice crumbly fluffy scone that I’m used to. Since I have only tried this recipe once, I don’t want to rate it negatively because it may have been due to human error that I didn’t realize. I will have to try this recipe one more time before I can fully rate it. But I can’t say that the flavour was great! I’m just looking for more of a scone that isn’t dense and gummy.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Sherisse! I’m honored that you’d make these scones for such a sweet and special occasion. 🙂 Let’s figure out what happened! When you say gummy, do you mean underdone? Or sort of elastic-y? Also, did you use an electric mixer or stand mixer at any point — or did you use a whiks and pastry cutter where instructed and a spoon or fork for everything else? Lastly, I have a video for a similar recipe here, located just above the recipe! Did the texture of your scone dough look the same as in that video?
My first recommendation would be to decrease the milk by 1 tablespoon if you’d like to increase the maple syrup by 1 tablespoon. That will ensure there’s the proper ratio of wet and dry ingredients! Then if you give me the answers to those other questions I asked, we can determine what else you can do to get your scones to turn out perfectly tender on the insides, like they should! 🙂